Don’t have the time to implement time-saving AI tools? Here’s what to do.

The overwhelming workload prevents marketers from learning or implementing AI tools that can cut that workload down to size. This is the “paradox of marketing artificial intelligence” in a nutshell.

How can marketers break this cycle? Here’s a structured, actionable approach to overcoming the paradox and leveraging AI.

Step 1: Eliminate low-value activities

Most marketing teams have to handle tasks that deliver little or no business value. Identifying and stopping these activities can significantly save time for higher value work.

Start by auditing your team’s routine. Identify unproductive meetings, unnecessary reports, or stakeholder requests that offer minimal returns.

Work together as a team to highlight time-wasting activities and prioritize their elimination. With honesty and rigor, most teams can free up 10-50% of their available time. Redirect these gained hours to strategic efforts, including AI implementation.

Practical overview: List the top five activities that you suspect waste the most time. Evaluate their necessity and propose plans to either stop them or make them more effective.

Dig deeper: AI Readiness Checklist: 7 Key Steps to Successful Integration

Step 2: Simplify AI adoption

Artificial intelligence often seems daunting due to concerns about complexity, data privacy and intellectual property. However, starting small and focusing on simple tasks with a big impact can make adoption easier.

• Automate boring tasks: Delegate repetitive or joyless tasks to AI tools. For example, designers can use Canva’s Magic Studio to automate image resizing for different platforms. Identify similar tasks that do not require a lot of supervision and can be easily delegated.
• High Impact Pilot Use Cases: Instead of launching multiple AI initiatives, start with one or two that fit your team’s capabilities and deliver tangible results.
• Practical training: Focus training efforts on immediate, practical applications. Short sessions (90-120 minutes) tailored to specific tasks can be more effective than extensive theoretical programs.
• Address privacy concerns later: Start with use cases that don’t involve sensitive customer data or intellectual property. For example, use AI to create publicly accessible content or automate internal processes.

Practical overview: Pick one small, low-risk task your team is struggling with and explore an AI solution to solve it within a week.

Dig deeper: Why starting small with AI pilots before scaling is a mistake

Step 3: Prioritize critical metrics

Marketers often juggle multiple goals and metrics. To avoid spreading your efforts too far, focus on the one metric most important to your organization’s success. Use AI to make measurable improvements in this area.

For example, if customer acquisition is a priority, implement AI tools for personalized ad targeting or lead scoring. It may seem risky to prioritize other metrics. Remember that most marketing effects – both positive and negative – develop over time. So you have time to determine which ones matter and which ones don’t.

Practical overview: Identify your team’s most important metric and brainstorm three AI strategies to improve it next quarter.

Dig deeper: Basic KPIs for measuring the success of generative artificial intelligence in marketing

Step 4: Plan for long-term AI integration

The first steps to overcome the AI ​​paradox favor quick wins. However, sustainable success requires a long-term approach, including:

• Creation of an AI Governance Council to set policy.
• Conducting marketing process audits to identify additional automation options.
• Development of a comprehensive AI strategy and roadmap.

While these activities are necessary, they can be delayed until your team gains confidence in initial AI implementations. The key to success is to start small but remain committed to scaling up your efforts over time.

Practical overview: Schedule a quarterly review to assess your AI initiatives and draft a long-term plan by the end of the year.

Dig deeper: Guardrails and Management: How to Protect Your Brand When Using AI

Break out of the paradox

Solving the marketing AI paradox requires courage and discipline. Marketers can reclaim time and achieve higher productivity by reducing low-value activities, starting small with AI, focusing on key metrics, and planning for sustainable integration.